Takes from blog brothers: Spurs get mention in George Will column

I’m back after a week of vacation and it seems that we are no closer to a solution in the NBA lockout as we were when I left.

The cancellation of the first two weeks of games last week will likely be followed by the announcement of more missed games as soon as later this week. There appears to be little chance to see games on Christmas — the traditional start of the NBA season for many casual hoop fans — unless some remarkable work is done behind the scenes by David Stern and Billy Hunter in the next 48 hours.

The NBA’s lockout has become a topic for editiorial pages across the country as both sides appear to be entrenched in their positions.

George Will, the Washington Post’s fine editorial columnist, figures that the NBA lockout is such a strong topic that he decided to opine on the work stoppage even in the middle of his beloved baseball playoffs.

Will mentions that the Spurs are an anomaly in sports after winning four NBA titles during a nine-year period despite playing in a small market.

And he also describes what appears to be the central difference in the two sides.

“Labor-management disputes test the two sides’ animal spirits and pain thresholds,” Will writes. “The former favor the players, who — owners frequently forget this — have climbed to the narrow peak of their profession’s pyramid because they are ferocious competitors who loathe losing at anything.

“Owners, however, have higher pain thresholds because they have longer time horizons: They do not have short careers; they do have deep pockets.”

Here are some other Spurs-related tidbits from around the web from the last several days. Enjoy them.

The Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen notes that small-market franchises like the Spurs have been successful in the modern-day NBA — despite Stern’s claims that a new contract will help those teams become more competitive.